This post is authored by Ehud Friedgut. Congratulations to Keren, Ehud and Michal for the birth of Shiri and Hillel!

Murphy’s law of breastfeeding twins, like all of Murphy’s laws, is supported by strong empirical evidence.

The twins’ feeding rhythm depends on your approach. If you decide to try and synchronize them in order to minimize your hassle and maximize your rest periods then twin A’s hunger will be governed by and twin B’s by .

If you decide to respect their natural rhythm in hope of falling into a fixed predictable pattern then twin A will follow and twin B , where , the golden ratio, is the number hardest to approximate by rationals

9 Responses to Ehud Friedgut: Murphy’s Law of Breastfeeding Twins

I am now in Bonn where I am spending a month without my family, as a
consequence I am taking long walks near the Rhein. Somehow your rhythm worries resonated (sic!) with my thoughts, watching the waves on the water. I just wanted to make a remark which may help in dealing with all the rhythm adjustment issues: please do not forget the dominant term! Its wavelength is around 160 years, you are now near the local max, and your children’s derivatives are at their max. It is easy to lose sight of it.